The entire point of R&D at car manufacturers is to decrease the cost of manufacturing and parts while increasing efficiency (at least for extremely high product

The entire point of R&D at car manufacturers is to decrease the cost of manufacturing and parts while increasing efficiency (at least for extremely high production target cars like the 3/Y/Mach-e). They're constantly saving cents here & there and decreasing the cost of the car by $200 weekly (with most of the cost savings going towards their bank account of course).